The rotor of a baler is the part used to propel the straw picked up from the ground into the baling chamber of a baler where it is compacted and formed into bales. The rotor can also be part of an in-feed or transport element for other processing means. In use, a blockage of the rotor may occur from time to time resulting in activation of the overload safety device in the drive line. Hence the drive is interrupted and, in such an event, the operator has to switch off the drive to the baler and rotate the rotor in the reverse sense to release the blockage.
For this purpose, it is known to provide a baler rotor with a reversing mechanism which comprises a ratchet mounted on the rotor and a pawl carried by on a reversing arm that is reciprocated by means of a double acting hydraulic cylinder. When the reversing arm is extended fully into a park position, the pawl is disengaged from the ratchet to allow the rotor to rotate in its normal forward direction.
A problem that arises when using such a reversing mechanism is that the operator can accidentally re-engage the drive to the baler before the reversing arm has reached its park position, that is to say while forward rotation of the rotor is being opposed by engagement between the pawl and the ratchet. Such premature re-engagement of the drive to the baler can result in serious and possibly irreparable damage to the reversing mechanism.